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<v Speaker 1>If you want to get the show early and ad free,

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<v Speaker 1>head on over to the Peak Kinyonas show dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>There you can choose from where you wish to support me.

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<v Speaker 1>Now listen very carefully. I've had some people ask me

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<v Speaker 1>about this, even though I think on the last ad

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<v Speaker 1>I stated it pretty clearly. If you want an RSS feed,

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. You'll see all the ways that you can

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<v Speaker 1>support me there. And I just want to thank everyone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's because of you that I can put out the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of material that I do. I can do what

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<v Speaker 1>I'm doing with doctor Johnson on two hundred Years Together

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<v Speaker 1>and everything else, the things that Thomas and I are

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<v Speaker 1>doing together on kindinal philosophy, it's all because of you.

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<v Speaker 1>And yeah, I mean, I'll never be able to thank

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<v Speaker 1>you enough. So thank you. The pekan Yonashow dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything's there. I want to welcome everyone back to the

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<v Speaker 1>Peak and Yona show. We had a little bit of

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<v Speaker 1>a hiatus because you know, did a little traveling and everything.

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<v Speaker 1>But Thomas is back and we're going to finish up

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<v Speaker 1>the series on who started World War Two? Who's responsible?

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<v Speaker 1>And yeah, so take it away, Thomas.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thanks for hosting me again. There's there's two issues

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<v Speaker 2>here and if memory serves, in the first episode of

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<v Speaker 2>this little series, we addressed the issue of one exactly

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<v Speaker 2>the Second World War started, which seems pedantic, but it's not. It.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a real matter of contention for anybody who's

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<v Speaker 2>seriously engaged with the subject matter. There's a reason why

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<v Speaker 2>court historians claim the opposite of hostilities was September third,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty nine, because that represents a discreetly ideologically coded perspective.

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<v Speaker 2>And obviously the intention is to present the global strategic

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<v Speaker 2>and geopolitical situation as being one of relative peace until

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<v Speaker 2>the German Reich violated that peace through naked aggression against

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<v Speaker 2>the Polish state. Okay, that's a problematic perspective for all

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<v Speaker 2>kinds of reasons, you know, some of which are political,

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<v Speaker 2>some of which are purely historical in nature and factual.

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<v Speaker 3>But what I think is irrebuttable.

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<v Speaker 2>Even if one accepts, you know, the.

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<v Speaker 3>Mainstream view of.

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<v Speaker 2>The onset of hostilities between the German Reich and Poland

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<v Speaker 2>and the subsequent words declaration on the German Reich by

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<v Speaker 2>France and the United Kingdom. The fact of the matter

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<v Speaker 2>is that weeks prior, the Soviet Union assaulted the Japanese

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<v Speaker 2>Imperial Army at Chalcan Goal. This was a massive engagement.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a massive clash of forces, you know, and

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<v Speaker 2>obviously it represented the onset of a state of general

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<v Speaker 2>hostilities between two great powers, the Soviet Union and the

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<v Speaker 2>Empire of Japan. So I don't really see how anybody

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<v Speaker 2>whoks likes to be taken seriously It can claim that

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<v Speaker 2>this was some sort of insignificant event or somehow not

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<v Speaker 2>related to the broader nexus of causation that you know,

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<v Speaker 2>also precipitated the amin of hostilities in Europe.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, either.

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<v Speaker 2>The Soviet Union going to war with Japan in a

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<v Speaker 2>scale capacity represented the onset of general hostilities a planetary scale,

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<v Speaker 2>or it didn't.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, So there's that.

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<v Speaker 2>Related to that, but more discreetly political in terms of

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<v Speaker 2>the significance of the subject matter vis a vis court history,

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<v Speaker 2>narratives and the way that official authorities in the United

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<v Speaker 2>States and the United Kingdom and.

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<v Speaker 3>The Buddhist Republic.

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<v Speaker 2>Continue to present, you know, and characterize the Second World

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<v Speaker 2>War is the issue with Soviet intentions and what exactly

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<v Speaker 2>the state of power political relations was between Moscow and

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<v Speaker 2>Berlin as of you know, June twenty second, nineteen forty one.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's pretty clear to me, you know, and I

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<v Speaker 2>draw a lot in substantial measure on the late Jacham

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<v Speaker 2>Hoffmann's exhaustive study of Barbarossa. It's pretty clear to me

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<v Speaker 2>that the Soviet Union was eminently going to assault Europe

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<v Speaker 2>and the German Rich, not just the Feure but okay,

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<v Speaker 2>w as well as you know, various command elements within

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<v Speaker 2>the party apparatus, the military and the secular state of

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<v Speaker 2>apparatus recognized this reality, as did myriad heads of state

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<v Speaker 2>who found themselves allied with the German Reich for various reasons.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, this included Croatia, Slovakia, Italy, and you know France.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, again, there was no Vhi France. There was

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<v Speaker 2>the Government of France, and it was absolutely on the

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<v Speaker 2>side of the Axis powers. You know, there were volunteers

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<v Speaker 2>from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland throughout this Central Asian Islamic countries.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, Romania. Romania contributed a quarter million men, which

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<v Speaker 2>is a massive contribution for a country the size of Romania.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, you know, Belgium, Luxembourg.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, the list goes on and on and on

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<v Speaker 3>and on. You know.

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<v Speaker 2>And obviously the Spaniards at Leningrad fought incredibly valiantly. But

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<v Speaker 2>you know, there there's this, This wasn't just a matter

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<v Speaker 2>of zeitgeist. There some sort of mass hysteria or some

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<v Speaker 2>sort of desire to sacrifice one's life, or some sort

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<v Speaker 2>of epemeral glory. The Soviet Union, uh had. Aside of

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<v Speaker 2>the fact that it was animated by a revolutionary ideology

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<v Speaker 2>that was really global in character. It, the Soviet Union

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<v Speaker 2>had built a military juggernaut the likes of which the

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<v Speaker 2>world had never seen. It was almost unfathomable, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was only growing larger and more powerful, you know, And

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<v Speaker 2>the like I said to me, this is obvious, Hoffman

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<v Speaker 2>Uh and Victor Suvarov and Uh a few other military historians,

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<v Speaker 2>all right, says Stope is another one they brought unique

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<v Speaker 2>insight to the table, and Hoffman in particular, his data

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<v Speaker 2>points were and are exhaustive. And Hoffman too, he he

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<v Speaker 2>not that I mean, obviously, I don't have any prejudice

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<v Speaker 2>against independence scholars. I am one, but such that people

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<v Speaker 2>are prone to dismissing historians who don't have what they

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<v Speaker 2>view as adequate credential affiliation with reputable institutions. Well, Hoffmann

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<v Speaker 2>when he was alive, he was in the employee of

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<v Speaker 2>the official Historical Records division of the Bundesman, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>and he was considered to be probably the seminole German

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<v Speaker 2>historian on Barbarossa in terms of the military aspects. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>you can't say that he was a crank or that

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<v Speaker 2>he was some agrieved guy who was outside of the

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<v Speaker 2>establishment of the bundes Republic. He was very much insinuated

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<v Speaker 2>into it. Okay, not that that have to make a difference,

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<v Speaker 2>but such that it does, you know, I don't see

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<v Speaker 2>how people can impeach his credibility, you know. And one

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<v Speaker 2>of the issues that Hoffman takes up, because again Hoffman

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<v Speaker 2>was very focused on the quantitative military aspects of Barbarossa.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the things that he addressed was a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of lay people as well as historians and military analysts

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<v Speaker 2>who know better, but for cynical reasons. Van Wagen on

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<v Speaker 2>this argument, they claim that, well, if the Soviet Union

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<v Speaker 2>was so deep we mobilized and had to raise such

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<v Speaker 2>a massively scaled war machine, why did they absorb catastrophic casualties. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>that's exactly why they did, because they were deployed offensively.

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<v Speaker 2>And when you're talking about combined arms, even to this day,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean drones in localized autonomous firepower are are definitely

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<v Speaker 2>changing things, most strategically and tactically, and nowhere is that

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<v Speaker 2>more on display than than in various aspects of tactical

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<v Speaker 2>deployment and depth. But even to this day, this remains constant.

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<v Speaker 2>If we're talking about combined arms. Modern warfare.

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<v Speaker 3>Were not.

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<v Speaker 2>You can't just call a proverbial audible in the midst

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<v Speaker 2>of hostilities if your forces are a rayed to assault

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<v Speaker 2>and switch to a defensive paradigm. So coming under assault

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<v Speaker 2>when not prepared to defend in depth, it can lead

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<v Speaker 2>to catastrophe, particularly when one's opponent is the Wehrmacht. And

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna get into how exactly that plays out but

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<v Speaker 2>not only again, does the attrition rate and specifically the

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<v Speaker 2>skewed nature of that attrition rate, not only does that

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<v Speaker 2>not tend to rebut the claim before us, it actually

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<v Speaker 2>tends to substantiate it. Now, I'll get into some of

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<v Speaker 2>these data points, said, you know, to clarify what we're

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<v Speaker 2>talking about here. I can't remember if I got into

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<v Speaker 2>this or not in the first episode. And please tell

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<v Speaker 2>me if I'm repeating myself and know what has need

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<v Speaker 2>to correct me. I'm not gonna be offended. Quite the contrary,

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<v Speaker 2>You'll be quite gracious. Between November nineteen forty and literally

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<v Speaker 2>the eve of Barbarossa in June of nineteen forty one,

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<v Speaker 2>the Soviets undertook a massive arms build up. It now,

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<v Speaker 2>don't get me wrong. By the autumn of nineteen forty

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<v Speaker 2>the Soviets enjoyed numeric and arguably technological superiority pretty much

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<v Speaker 2>across the entire spectrum of combined arms. But this punctuated

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<v Speaker 2>build up of November nineteen forty to June nineteen forty

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<v Speaker 2>one can really only be interpreted as mobilization and anticipation

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<v Speaker 2>of offensive operations. On the outbreak of hostilities in June

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<v Speaker 2>twenty second, nineteen forty one.

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<v Speaker 3>The Soviet Union.

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<v Speaker 2>Had deployed no less than twenty four thousand tanks, close

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<v Speaker 2>to two thousand of which were T thirty fours, which

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<v Speaker 2>you know, in those days there weren't battle tanks. There

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<v Speaker 2>was light, medium, and heavy tanks. Then are you with

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<v Speaker 2>super heavy tanks? But uh, the T thirty four was

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<v Speaker 2>I think of it as kind of like the the

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<v Speaker 2>the zero of of of armored forces. You know, it

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<v Speaker 2>was probably the most effective armored platform of the entire war.

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<v Speaker 2>And and all are out in terms. Okay, yeah, obviously

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<v Speaker 2>you know, the the Tiger was a superior machine. That's

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<v Speaker 2>not what we're talking about, you know, in the the uh,

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<v Speaker 2>the ability of T thirty four is to be rolled

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<v Speaker 2>off the assembly line rapidly, you know, almost like model

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<v Speaker 2>T Fords or something odin that that that itself was

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<v Speaker 2>a force multiplier, you know it.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh.

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<v Speaker 2>Between nineteen and thirty eight and June twenty second, nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>forty one, the.

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<v Speaker 3>Red Air Force.

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<v Speaker 2>Had acquired over twenty three thousand military aircraft, around thirty

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<v Speaker 2>seven one hundred of which could be considered cutting edge.

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<v Speaker 2>Probably about half of those had night fighting capability. The

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<v Speaker 2>Red Army had close to one hundred and fifty thousand

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<v Speaker 2>field artillery pieces and heavy mortars.

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<v Speaker 3>The Red Navy.

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<v Speaker 2>Had over two hundred submarines, which I can't remember if

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<v Speaker 2>I mentioned or not, But obviously the submarines are expressly offensive.

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<v Speaker 2>There aren't defensive submarines, you know. And to be clear,

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<v Speaker 2>this alone, I mean, the Soviet Union wasn't known as

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<v Speaker 2>any kind of.

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<v Speaker 3>Maritime power.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, if anything, you know, the the Tsars Navy

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<v Speaker 2>had been sank by the Japanese in nineteen oh five,

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<v Speaker 2>and that it further compromised the prestige actual potential of

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<v Speaker 2>you know, the Russian Navy is a real force. But

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<v Speaker 2>by June twenty second, nineteen forty one, the Soviet Union

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<v Speaker 2>by far had the largest submarine fleet in the world,

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<v Speaker 2>more than four times that of the Royal Navy, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>in the UK was viewed as the foremost naval power

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<v Speaker 2>on this planet, you know. I mean, these data points

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<v Speaker 2>speak for themselves, you know. And on the political side,

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<v Speaker 2>I know I've gotten into this. In pre obvious series

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<v Speaker 2>that we've done, I put a lot of emphasis on

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<v Speaker 2>direct testimony, owing I'm sure in part to the fact

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<v Speaker 2>that my background in part at least is that of

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<v Speaker 2>a lawyer, you know. But also if we're talking about intent,

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<v Speaker 2>particularly of wartime executives, there's a tendency to be able

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<v Speaker 2>to rely upon the statements of a wartime executive or

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<v Speaker 2>an executive who is preparing for war. There's a there's

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<v Speaker 2>incentivization to telling the truth when the chief executives so

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<v Speaker 2>situated as talking to his cabinet or as a general

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<v Speaker 2>staff officers, Okay, because what incentive or there be to lie?

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<v Speaker 2>Number one, And there's there's there's active disincentives to lie,

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<v Speaker 2>because that compromises the ability of subordinate command elements to

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<v Speaker 2>effectively execute orders and wage war towards victory conditions.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>And so I put a lot of stock in what

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<v Speaker 2>Stalin said, and a lot of this testimony from Stalin himself,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, that which isn't independently documented by you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the minutes of his speeches or or by audio recording.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, a lot of Stalin's intimates were the sources

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<v Speaker 2>of these statements, including Colonel Volkaganov, who was Stalin's official biographer,

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<v Speaker 2>you know.

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<v Speaker 3>And Stalin gave a series of speeches in this.

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<v Speaker 2>In the year preceding Barbarossa, but particularly the six to

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<v Speaker 2>eight months immediately proceeding onset of hostilities, which approximately reflects

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<v Speaker 2>the final phase of mobilization that we talked about just now,

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<v Speaker 2>from November nineteen forty to June nineteen forty one. And

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<v Speaker 2>Volkognanov makes the point that Stalin was very taciturn, but

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<v Speaker 2>he became quite king ended and quite open within the

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<v Speaker 2>cloisters of you know, these command element corridors in his

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<v Speaker 2>discussion of you know, what was to be military doctrine

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<v Speaker 2>in the next war, which he increasingly discussed as if

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<v Speaker 2>it was an imminent possibility. In Volkoganov's own words, in

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<v Speaker 2>describing the speech Stalin made on May fifth, nineteen forty one,

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<v Speaker 2>he says, quote the leader made it unmistakably, unmistakably clear.

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<v Speaker 2>War is inevitable in the future. One must be ready

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<v Speaker 2>for the quote unconditional destruction of German fascism. The worl

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<v Speaker 2>will be fought on enemy territory and victory will be

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<v Speaker 2>achieved with few casualties. And again, this wasn't something that

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<v Speaker 2>Stalin merely devised as a polemical device to embolden forces

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<v Speaker 2>under his command or to overcome any potential or actual

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<v Speaker 2>crises and confidences among the general staff by appeal to

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<v Speaker 2>revolutionary fervor. Lenin made clear in identifying the core doctrinal

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<v Speaker 2>elements of the Red Army, you know, back in nineteen twenty,

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen twenty one, nineteen twenty two, that the Red Army

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<v Speaker 2>was an instrumentality of revolutionary imperatives. It wasn't a defensive element,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, and it was to be deployed offensively at

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<v Speaker 2>all times, you know, because the only rationale for its

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<v Speaker 2>existence within the paradigm of Mercist historiography and Leninist revolutionary

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<v Speaker 2>doctrine was to facilitate the advance of history and the

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<v Speaker 2>victory of the proletariat against the class enemy. So there's

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<v Speaker 2>really no there's really no way to interpret Soviet battle

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<v Speaker 2>doctrine as anything other than discreetly, ideologically coded and axiomatically offensive,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. And this is this is going on, or

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<v Speaker 2>this is relying upon the strictures of Marxist Leninist ontology

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<v Speaker 2>and the distinct Marxist view of military power and its

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<v Speaker 2>utility and its ethical functions. And the Marxist Leninism was

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<v Speaker 2>in fact a total philosophical and political system impoverished as

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<v Speaker 2>it may have been intellectually in various capacities, and to

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<v Speaker 2>be fair, it's sophisticated in others. What's irrebuttable or indisputable

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<v Speaker 2>is that it was a total theory of political and

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<v Speaker 2>social and thus historical ontology. So the idea that the

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<v Speaker 2>party state, which to be clear, by nineteen forty one,

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<v Speaker 2>had categorically annihilated millions of people within the Soviet Union

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<v Speaker 2>owing to what was identified as their ineducability, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the idea.

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<v Speaker 3>That Stalin.

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<v Speaker 2>Or the Presidium or the pollit Boro Standing Committee, or

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<v Speaker 2>these surviving command elements in the Red Army, the idea

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<v Speaker 2>that they would somehow hesitate to see through these doctrinal

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<v Speaker 2>imperatives is somewhat laughable, you know. And we're not in

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<v Speaker 2>the court of law, so it shouldn't be a problem

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<v Speaker 2>to invoke subsequent as well as prior precedent, to demonstrate

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<v Speaker 2>persuasively what the doctrinal character was of Marxist Leninist revolutionary

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<v Speaker 2>military elements. I invoked the case of Cambodia a lot,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, from nineteen seventy five to nineteen seventy nine,

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<v Speaker 2>and I know for a fact because I hate me

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<v Speaker 2>all its effect on things. People suspect I only do

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<v Speaker 2>that for the sake of polemical expediency. But that's not why.

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<v Speaker 2>Paul Pott was not some simple minded brute. He was

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<v Speaker 2>actually a very sophisticated political soldier. He had a very

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<v Speaker 2>deep understanding of Marxist Leninism, far more than Mao and

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<v Speaker 2>Democratic Kempuccia, as Paul Pott and his cadre branded the

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<v Speaker 2>country during their brief tenure, was a very pure Marxist

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<v Speaker 2>Leninist stayed in some ways, and there was nothing There

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<v Speaker 2>was nothing heterodox in ideological terms about the way they

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<v Speaker 2>implemented class adjusting for the discrete conditions on the ground

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<v Speaker 2>in Southeast Asia as in nineteen seventy five. So what

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<v Speaker 2>I'm getting at, and I'll move on here in a

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00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:16.440
<v Speaker 2>moment I don't quite understand. Are the same people who

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<v Speaker 2>acknowledge that the Soviet Union was this outlier country and uh,

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<v Speaker 2>that was unusual in every conceivable sense, you know, in

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<v Speaker 2>terms of practice and policy and theoretical foundations and everything else.

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00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:39.440
<v Speaker 2>Yet they insist that this this didn't somehow impact military

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00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:47.240
<v Speaker 2>decision making, or that revolutionary ontology somehow, somehow stopped at

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<v Speaker 2>the at the point of executive decisionism when it came

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<v Speaker 2>to the decision to you know, spread the revolutionary very

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<v Speaker 2>cause to Europe and specifically to annihilate the dialectical enemy

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<v Speaker 2>in the German Reich. But you know, the Stalin had

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<v Speaker 2>spoken again and again as well to the Central Committee,

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00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:41.279
<v Speaker 2>most notably on January eighth, nineteen forty one, and there

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00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:49.559
<v Speaker 2>was two high ranking Air Force officers in attendance, and.

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00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:54.160
<v Speaker 3>Stalin apparently.

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00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:04.160
<v Speaker 2>Spoke directly of the ratio and algorithm that was necessary

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<v Speaker 2>to defeat the German Reich.

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<v Speaker 3>According to.

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00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:19.119
<v Speaker 2>The General Staff, as well as his own calculations, as

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00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.440
<v Speaker 2>had been explicated to him by authorities that he trusted.

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<v Speaker 2>He spoke on this particular day to quote twofold superiority.

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<v Speaker 2>He said that, as had been explained to him, twofold

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<v Speaker 2>superiority is a law of military science, meaning the two

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<v Speaker 2>to one ratio contra the enemy and offensive operations. You know,

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00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:50.400
<v Speaker 2>whether you're talking about raw numbers or you know, force

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00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:55.359
<v Speaker 2>multipliers and variables tending to act as force multipliers that

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00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:01.680
<v Speaker 2>magnify the effectiveness of offensive elements.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, and.

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<v Speaker 2>Stalin stated openly that quote, this is not a game.

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<v Speaker 2>The time is approaching for military operations twofold. Superiority is essential,

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00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:27.400
<v Speaker 2>but greater supurity is even better. And he said that

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<v Speaker 2>he spoke specifically of the difficulty of traversing the Carpathians

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<v Speaker 2>and the need to designate at least five thousand attack

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00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:50.359
<v Speaker 2>aircraft in order to neutralize defensive positions that infantry and

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00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:53.960
<v Speaker 2>armor aren't going to be able to readily traverse owing

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<v Speaker 2>to the terrain. Now, this is hugely important for reasons

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to into in a moment, Okay, But from

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<v Speaker 2>January of forty one, specifically January eighth until May you know,

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<v Speaker 2>only weeks before Barbarossa, Stalin talks again and again about

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00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:28.640
<v Speaker 2>waging military operations in the Balkans, specifically across the Romanian frontier,

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<v Speaker 2>and discrete exigencies that are presented by waging war in

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<v Speaker 2>that theater. Okay, in a lecture given in the spring,

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<v Speaker 2>I believe March of forty one, but somehow neglected to

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<v Speaker 2>sign an execut date.

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<v Speaker 3>He uh.

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<v Speaker 2>Addressed uh the Soviet planopotentiary representative in Belgrade, which.

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00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:28.800
<v Speaker 3>At that time was under the.

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00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:31.639
<v Speaker 2>Rule briefly of a Chetnik junta, which in turn led

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00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:38.880
<v Speaker 2>to the German intervention and ultimately the you know, bifurcation

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00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:47.360
<v Speaker 2>of the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes. But in

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<v Speaker 2>addressing the Planopotentiary representative in Belgrade and uh select members

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00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:00.760
<v Speaker 2>of the Pullet Buro, he said, quote, the USORROW will

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00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:05.719
<v Speaker 2>only react at the proper time. The powers are scattering

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00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:09.679
<v Speaker 2>their forces more and more. The USSR is therefore waiting

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<v Speaker 2>to act unexpectedly against Germany. And doing so, the USSR

345
00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:17.559
<v Speaker 2>will cross the Carpathias, which lads as the signal for

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00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:22.440
<v Speaker 2>the revolution in Hungary. Soviet troops will penetrate Yugoslavia from Hungary,

347
00:35:22.679 --> 00:35:25.960
<v Speaker 2>advance the Adriatic Sea, and cut Germany off from the

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<v Speaker 2>Balkans in the Middle East.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, So what does this mean in both.

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<v Speaker 2>Immedia tactical terms and how this impacted the battlefield situation

351
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:51.400
<v Speaker 2>in Operation Barbarosa as well as in broader strategic terms. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>I'll take up the latter question first. For the latter aspect, first,

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00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:07.400
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet Union planned to assault Europe through Romania. By

354
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:13.760
<v Speaker 2>capturing Romania, it could deprive Germany of essential access to

355
00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:25.960
<v Speaker 2>petroleum reserves. And also that's commensurate with Soviet deep battle doctrine,

356
00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:36.039
<v Speaker 2>which presuming forces and being ratios that Stalin described as

357
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:40.559
<v Speaker 2>being you know, at least a twofold advantage and preferably

358
00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:48.079
<v Speaker 2>double or triple that Stalin basically was planning a deep

359
00:36:48.119 --> 00:36:52.280
<v Speaker 2>battle like pincer flanking maneuver across the entirety of the

360
00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:58.920
<v Speaker 2>continent in the north through Sweden and then down to

361
00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:05.559
<v Speaker 2>assault Germany from the north and in the south.

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<v Speaker 3>The main.

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<v Speaker 2>Stair punts would be through Romania. And I'll get into

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<v Speaker 2>in a moment. This is why the Army Group Center,

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00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:27.239
<v Speaker 2>Army Group South Face Savage Resistance and Barbarossa Army Group

366
00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:32.800
<v Speaker 2>Center was moving so fast it was basically like face

367
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<v Speaker 2>with no more than token opposition on the road to Moscow,

368
00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:42.760
<v Speaker 2>which doesn't make any sense unless you understand the deployment

369
00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:50.079
<v Speaker 2>schema of the Red Army, which was totally offensive and

370
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<v Speaker 2>concentrated in the South in a way that wouldn't be

371
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.880
<v Speaker 2>fashionably in a in a defensive.

372
00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:08.519
<v Speaker 3>Oriented schema. It's a.

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<v Speaker 2>Most uh, most significant everyone, I'm jumping around a bit,

374
00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:25.320
<v Speaker 2>but so please stop me if I'm not being clear.

375
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<v Speaker 2>Most significant. The super hypothesis, in terms of Stalin's declared

376
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<v Speaker 2>intentions was probably what's going to be known as the

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<v Speaker 2>secret meeting with the polit Burrow and the Soviet representatives

378
00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:53.079
<v Speaker 2>of the Common Tern who had been called back presumably

379
00:38:53.960 --> 00:38:57.480
<v Speaker 2>to be availed for the specific person being availed to

380
00:38:57.559 --> 00:39:04.320
<v Speaker 2>this speech on a August nineteenth, nineteen thirty nine, which

381
00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:08.360
<v Speaker 2>obviously coincided with the assault and the Japanese a Kalkan goal.

382
00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:15.199
<v Speaker 2>But this was a surprise secret meeting, and it was

383
00:39:15.280 --> 00:39:19.239
<v Speaker 2>unprecedented for the Russian delegation of the Common Turn to

384
00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:22.159
<v Speaker 2>be called back. Among other things, Stalin didn't have a

385
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:25.199
<v Speaker 2>lot of He didn't have a lot of respect for

386
00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:30.719
<v Speaker 2>the Common Turn. I mean, in part because the his

387
00:39:30.960 --> 00:39:41.599
<v Speaker 2>UH rigid command doctrine. He didn't I mean, he wasn't

388
00:39:41.639 --> 00:39:52.880
<v Speaker 2>comfortable with uh an ideologic we coded cadre structure, whereby

389
00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:57.760
<v Speaker 2>independent of Moscow, just going to the fact of distance

390
00:39:57.880 --> 00:40:04.079
<v Speaker 2>and you know, remoteness. You know, he didn't he didn't

391
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:09.639
<v Speaker 2>want some cadre making decisions, even superficially on behalf of

392
00:40:09.639 --> 00:40:14.320
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet Union without his direct oversight. Okay, but nonetheless,

393
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:18.239
<v Speaker 2>you know, the Common Turn still had tremendous clout in

394
00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:26.440
<v Speaker 2>ninety thirty nine, and especially coming off of the defeat

395
00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:31.599
<v Speaker 2>in Spain, there was a real danger of a fracturing.

396
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<v Speaker 3>Of a.

397
00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:41.400
<v Speaker 2>You know, the the broad international front, red front. So

398
00:40:42.599 --> 00:40:46.239
<v Speaker 2>this is highly significant. You know, I guess what I'm

399
00:40:46.239 --> 00:40:51.000
<v Speaker 2>getting at is that Stalin wouldn't have called the Russian

400
00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:53.320
<v Speaker 2>delegation back just for you know, for the sake of

401
00:40:53.360 --> 00:40:56.360
<v Speaker 2>putting on airs or to stand on ceremony or something.

402
00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:01.599
<v Speaker 2>And this is when I think, I excuse me, I

403
00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:04.800
<v Speaker 2>think I briefly addressed this last episode. It was in

404
00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:08.440
<v Speaker 2>this it was in this secret meeting or secret speech

405
00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:19.519
<v Speaker 2>that Stalin declared that, you know, getting the Germans to

406
00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:24.039
<v Speaker 2>getting the right foreign ministry to agree to a non

407
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:27.760
<v Speaker 2>aggression pact, you know, that would embolden them to act

408
00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:35.360
<v Speaker 2>against Poland, you know, because theretofore the Berlin and specifically

409
00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:41.039
<v Speaker 2>Hitler felt that his hands were tied in resolving the

410
00:41:41.119 --> 00:41:47.440
<v Speaker 2>Polish issue, because an assault on Poland, even in the

411
00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:53.280
<v Speaker 2>wake of a gross provocation or violation of Germany's territorial

412
00:41:53.320 --> 00:41:55.679
<v Speaker 2>integrity on the frontier, you know, what would lead to

413
00:41:55.880 --> 00:42:02.440
<v Speaker 2>a Soviet counter strike that would be devastating. So Stalin's

414
00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:08.199
<v Speaker 2>reasoning was, you know, we will uh will lull Germany

415
00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:13.679
<v Speaker 2>with this non aggression pact, which you know absolutely guarantees

416
00:42:13.760 --> 00:42:16.320
<v Speaker 2>that they will assault Poland, which will then you know,

417
00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.599
<v Speaker 2>lead to a ward declaration by the UK and France,

418
00:42:20.840 --> 00:42:24.960
<v Speaker 2>Germany you'll, uh will probably be victorious on the Western front,

419
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.079
<v Speaker 2>but only at pure cost, you know. And then uh,

420
00:42:29.719 --> 00:42:32.760
<v Speaker 2>you know and that this thus, this is the icebreaker

421
00:42:35.039 --> 00:42:42.760
<v Speaker 2>that uh will uh soften uh what would be Europe's

422
00:42:43.159 --> 00:42:45.880
<v Speaker 2>defense in Cordon and allow the Red Army to you know,

423
00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:51.440
<v Speaker 2>just bowl over and annihilate resistance in the West. And

424
00:42:52.519 --> 00:43:01.199
<v Speaker 2>you know, thus uh reverse the reverse the defeat handed

425
00:43:01.239 --> 00:43:04.840
<v Speaker 2>to them and Iberia and you know, conquer the continent

426
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:11.760
<v Speaker 2>in a rapid and devastating operation.

427
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:13.920
<v Speaker 3>And I mean Stalin.

428
00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:17.519
<v Speaker 2>This is remarkably consistent as far back as nineteen twenty five,

429
00:43:18.079 --> 00:43:22.719
<v Speaker 2>you know, when he was less than three years into

430
00:43:22.760 --> 00:43:30.440
<v Speaker 2>his formal ascendancy as General Secretary, he spoke openly about

431
00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:38.840
<v Speaker 2>the need to act militarily against Europe as soon as possible,

432
00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:46.119
<v Speaker 2>but not until the political climate and the you know,

433
00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:53.760
<v Speaker 2>the myriad it ever sort of changing alliance structure in

434
00:43:53.840 --> 00:44:02.920
<v Speaker 2>the West was such that what Don called the quote

435
00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:09.199
<v Speaker 2>broad field of activity would be realizable in order to

436
00:44:10.679 --> 00:44:16.079
<v Speaker 2>you know, pursue the imperative of world revolution. And to

437
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:23.039
<v Speaker 2>be clear, you know, not only was a Europe along

438
00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:30.199
<v Speaker 2>with America and Japan, you know, the kind of productive

439
00:44:31.239 --> 00:44:35.360
<v Speaker 2>core of this planet. But you know, the understanding was

440
00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:42.599
<v Speaker 2>that Europe was still the inconceptual terms, you know, the

441
00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:48.199
<v Speaker 2>political center of human affairs, you know, conceptually, you know,

442
00:44:48.280 --> 00:44:55.760
<v Speaker 2>every every every ideological schema you know, came from Europe,

443
00:44:55.800 --> 00:45:03.880
<v Speaker 2>and even even things like the di colonial movement were

444
00:45:03.880 --> 00:45:10.440
<v Speaker 2>fully locked into dialectical uh engagement, you know, with with

445
00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:18.320
<v Speaker 2>with European thoughts. So Stalin's notion was that, you know, first,

446
00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:22.920
<v Speaker 2>last and always your Europe needs to be overrun and annihilated,

447
00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.760
<v Speaker 2>and the revolution has to has to be implemented there.

448
00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:29.400
<v Speaker 2>You know, it's a waste of time and it's self

449
00:45:29.400 --> 00:45:35.800
<v Speaker 2>defeating them pursue uh, such imperatives on the periphery that

450
00:45:35.880 --> 00:45:39.679
<v Speaker 2>make no mistake, you know, where ever revolutionary activity jumped

451
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:44.199
<v Speaker 2>off that had historical momentum and forces in being. Stalin

452
00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:47.119
<v Speaker 2>absolutely was in favor of supporting that and seeing that through.

453
00:45:47.800 --> 00:45:52.360
<v Speaker 2>But the uh, but but the but the core mission

454
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:56.119
<v Speaker 2>orientation of the Soviet Union had to be you know,

455
00:45:56.199 --> 00:46:03.159
<v Speaker 2>the the you know, the implementing the World Revolution in Europe,

456
00:46:03.360 --> 00:46:07.119
<v Speaker 2>you know, first and foremost, and and that's also why

457
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:10.000
<v Speaker 2>the Spanish War was so important, you know, it wasn't

458
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:14.480
<v Speaker 2>just uh, I've read some court historians claim that Stalin

459
00:46:14.559 --> 00:46:17.920
<v Speaker 2>was somehow like reluctantly forced into the Spanish War just

460
00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:21.000
<v Speaker 2>for the sake of appeasing the common term. I mean,

461
00:46:21.000 --> 00:46:24.000
<v Speaker 2>that's that's that's laughable, for all kinds of reasons. But

462
00:46:24.039 --> 00:46:30.360
<v Speaker 2>it also you know, Stalin wasn't as heterodox of a

463
00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:34.400
<v Speaker 2>of a Marxist Leninist as he's often portrayed. I mean,

464
00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:38.599
<v Speaker 2>Stalin was complicated, you know, Like I said, I it's

465
00:46:38.599 --> 00:46:42.920
<v Speaker 2>a lean value, but it's a great book, Carrie Bolton's book,

466
00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:47.079
<v Speaker 2>Stalin The Enduring Legacy. You know, Stalin was a complicated figure,

467
00:46:48.119 --> 00:46:56.480
<v Speaker 2>and there were heterodox aspects to his worldview and his

468
00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:02.119
<v Speaker 2>own Velt politique, but it was a radical divergence.

469
00:47:01.639 --> 00:47:03.559
<v Speaker 3>Or something, you know.

470
00:47:03.960 --> 00:47:09.760
<v Speaker 2>And that's important, especially because these days even even some

471
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:17.519
<v Speaker 2>fairly heterodox political fears and even Summer revisionists seem to

472
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:18.400
<v Speaker 2>abide that.

473
00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:20.079
<v Speaker 3>Fiction.

474
00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:31.519
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, the you can't and in other words, this

475
00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:36.360
<v Speaker 2>you can't you can't extricate the ambition of the Sovietization

476
00:47:36.440 --> 00:47:43.679
<v Speaker 2>of Europe from the existence of the Soviet Union itself.

477
00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:46.360
<v Speaker 3>You know, these these.

478
00:47:46.159 --> 00:47:51.679
<v Speaker 2>These ambitions were synonymous, and that's that's also why the

479
00:47:51.760 --> 00:47:58.840
<v Speaker 2>Cold War developed the way they did in.

480
00:47:57.000 --> 00:47:59.000
<v Speaker 3>In raw geo strategic terms.

481
00:48:02.679 --> 00:48:05.480
<v Speaker 2>But you know, and I think I can't remember I

482
00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:09.079
<v Speaker 2>mentioned or not this speech and question, you know, the

483
00:48:09.119 --> 00:48:14.079
<v Speaker 2>August nineteen, nineteen thirty nine speech. It was obtained by

484
00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:25.480
<v Speaker 2>the French news agency Havas, and uh.

485
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:29.239
<v Speaker 3>The French were kind of notorious for getting a hold.

486
00:48:29.039 --> 00:48:38.079
<v Speaker 2>Of these kinds of documents and records, you know, and

487
00:48:38.159 --> 00:48:48.000
<v Speaker 2>when uh when the Havas agency by way of Geneva,

488
00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:49.599
<v Speaker 2>when when?

489
00:48:49.639 --> 00:48:49.840
<v Speaker 3>When?

490
00:48:49.880 --> 00:48:57.679
<v Speaker 2>When they went public with it? It was published in uh,

491
00:49:00.320 --> 00:49:04.960
<v Speaker 2>some international journal and then in many of the major

492
00:49:05.079 --> 00:49:13.280
<v Speaker 2>French language newspapers. But Moscow's propagandas immediately wanted to overdrive,

493
00:49:13.639 --> 00:49:15.480
<v Speaker 2>you know, and claiming, you know, this is a this

494
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:20.079
<v Speaker 2>is a forgery. You know this this is confabulated by

495
00:49:20.119 --> 00:49:24.320
<v Speaker 2>the the enemies of Russia and the Soviet Union. You know,

496
00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:29.559
<v Speaker 2>it's fascist propaganda. And uh it did not make us

497
00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:31.960
<v Speaker 2>nearly as big of an impact as one might think,

498
00:49:33.239 --> 00:49:39.199
<v Speaker 2>you know, which is really interesting because it goes to

499
00:49:39.199 --> 00:49:42.760
<v Speaker 2>show you too, how you know, and a lot of

500
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:46.039
<v Speaker 2>that too had to do with uh, this kind of

501
00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:51.480
<v Speaker 2>deafening silence from American news agencies, you know, and other

502
00:49:51.559 --> 00:49:57.840
<v Speaker 2>than all all the major papers in America, I mean,

503
00:49:57.880 --> 00:50:05.079
<v Speaker 2>other than those brands held by McCormick. We're basically, uh,

504
00:50:05.719 --> 00:50:09.760
<v Speaker 2>mouthpieces for the New Deal regime, you know. But it's

505
00:50:09.760 --> 00:50:12.400
<v Speaker 2>still I mean obviously too.

506
00:50:12.440 --> 00:50:12.920
<v Speaker 3>I mean this.

507
00:50:14.760 --> 00:50:19.599
<v Speaker 2>There's a kind of nascent low tech globalism emerging at

508
00:50:19.719 --> 00:50:24.880
<v Speaker 2>least between America and Europe by way of you know,

509
00:50:24.960 --> 00:50:31.000
<v Speaker 2>the UK, but even you know, I mean, it's it's

510
00:50:31.039 --> 00:50:35.079
<v Speaker 2>it's it stort means remarkable that there is basically no

511
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:37.960
<v Speaker 2>impact in terms of global opinion.

512
00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:42.440
<v Speaker 3>And uh, I've looked too to see if.

513
00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:51.079
<v Speaker 2>This pops up in any America first literature, and I

514
00:50:51.119 --> 00:50:57.719
<v Speaker 2>haven't found anything this positive on that question. But that

515
00:50:57.880 --> 00:50:59.960
<v Speaker 2>again goes to show you too, the degree to which

516
00:51:02.639 --> 00:51:09.280
<v Speaker 2>the psychological environment was being actively manipulated, you know, long

517
00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:12.599
<v Speaker 2>before the onset of formal hostilities, which might seem like

518
00:51:12.599 --> 00:51:20.800
<v Speaker 2>an obvious point to you or myself, but people are

519
00:51:20.840 --> 00:51:27.800
<v Speaker 2>inundated in this country with this idea that you know,

520
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:33.840
<v Speaker 2>somehow the New Dealers had no interest in these goings

521
00:51:33.880 --> 00:51:38.920
<v Speaker 2>on and the European War and the intries from the

522
00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:41.920
<v Speaker 2>Soviet Union, the German Reich, you know, until Pearl Harbor.

523
00:51:41.920 --> 00:51:44.360
<v Speaker 2>When America was attacked, then that changed everything. I mean

524
00:51:44.360 --> 00:51:50.920
<v Speaker 2>that that could not be more false. From the first

525
00:51:51.960 --> 00:51:56.320
<v Speaker 2>months of the New Deal regime, which again coincided almost

526
00:51:56.320 --> 00:52:05.000
<v Speaker 2>precisely with the National Socialist Revolution, which was a totally

527
00:52:05.079 --> 00:52:14.719
<v Speaker 2>legal revolution again, you know, and Roosevelt from the first

528
00:52:14.800 --> 00:52:24.440
<v Speaker 2>days of his administration was pursuing an an absolutely radical

529
00:52:24.480 --> 00:52:33.920
<v Speaker 2>anti fascist imperative as the core mandate of an ambition

530
00:52:34.280 --> 00:52:36.679
<v Speaker 2>of his administration, you know.

531
00:52:36.679 --> 00:52:42.239
<v Speaker 3>And that can't they can't be denied, you know. In

532
00:52:42.360 --> 00:52:45.599
<v Speaker 3>the I don't want to spin this off to.

533
00:52:48.360 --> 00:52:53.480
<v Speaker 2>Tangentially, and I know that a lot of people criticize

534
00:52:53.559 --> 00:52:55.400
<v Speaker 2>me for my sources.

535
00:52:56.119 --> 00:52:57.039
<v Speaker 3>Well, yet they have.

536
00:52:59.679 --> 00:53:02.719
<v Speaker 2>Yet directly rebut any of these data points that I

537
00:53:02.880 --> 00:53:08.679
<v Speaker 2>have derived from these sources, namely Robert Conquests and.

538
00:53:10.519 --> 00:53:11.440
<v Speaker 3>Ernst Nolty, and.

539
00:53:13.559 --> 00:53:17.000
<v Speaker 2>As well as the Black Book of Communism, which is

540
00:53:17.039 --> 00:53:23.400
<v Speaker 2>a great resource. I'm gonna add, but it's indisputable if

541
00:53:23.440 --> 00:53:32.800
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet Union exterminated millions of people between nineteen seventeen

542
00:53:35.320 --> 00:53:41.239
<v Speaker 2>and nineteen forty one, and there was a massive series

543
00:53:41.280 --> 00:53:48.440
<v Speaker 2>of death camps, actual death camps that were employed towards

544
00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:55.119
<v Speaker 2>this incredibly gruesome task, and the degree to which there

545
00:53:55.239 --> 00:54:02.360
<v Speaker 2>was an information blackout about this reality can't be overstated,

546
00:54:03.679 --> 00:54:09.719
<v Speaker 2>you know. And people who raised this issue, you know,

547
00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:17.239
<v Speaker 2>not just not just America Firsters, but Joseph Schumpeter's wife. Interestingly,

548
00:54:18.760 --> 00:54:22.880
<v Speaker 2>she spoke Japanese and she was a big advocate for

549
00:54:23.000 --> 00:54:25.760
<v Speaker 2>Japanese people. She was kind of a human rights type,

550
00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:28.239
<v Speaker 2>but of a genuine sort, not like the twenty first

551
00:54:28.239 --> 00:54:37.280
<v Speaker 2>century sort. And she raised the issue of Soviet annihilation

552
00:54:37.960 --> 00:54:41.920
<v Speaker 2>therapy as an ULTI called it, and she was she

553
00:54:41.960 --> 00:54:45.079
<v Speaker 2>and Schumper were her hassled by the FBI, both for

554
00:54:45.199 --> 00:54:48.519
<v Speaker 2>you know, sympathies for the Axis vis a vis her

555
00:54:50.079 --> 00:54:53.280
<v Speaker 2>you know, dealings with with with Japanese people and stuff,

556
00:54:53.320 --> 00:54:57.519
<v Speaker 2>and particularly Japanese people who are being persecuted by the

557
00:54:57.559 --> 00:55:04.920
<v Speaker 2>New Dealers, but also h you know, propagandizing against the

558
00:55:04.960 --> 00:55:10.159
<v Speaker 2>Soviet Union in their review was this big subversive act,

559
00:55:11.679 --> 00:55:15.559
<v Speaker 2>you know, which seems kind of an incredible I'd imagine

560
00:55:15.559 --> 00:55:16.920
<v Speaker 2>that people today, but.

561
00:55:19.119 --> 00:55:19.599
<v Speaker 3>They don't.

562
00:55:21.239 --> 00:55:23.760
<v Speaker 2>I mean, but I mean, it only seems incredible if

563
00:55:23.800 --> 00:55:30.679
<v Speaker 2>one doesn't accept the true nature of a of that regime.

564
00:55:31.519 --> 00:55:41.199
<v Speaker 2>But that aside, it's remarkable that degree to which these

565
00:55:41.239 --> 00:55:46.960
<v Speaker 2>things could in fact be could in fact be hidden,

566
00:55:48.840 --> 00:55:53.800
<v Speaker 2>you know, But that also raised I mean there's there's

567
00:55:53.840 --> 00:56:02.800
<v Speaker 2>also obliquely and conversely it it also begs the question,

568
00:56:04.480 --> 00:56:11.960
<v Speaker 2>you know, if there was this mass murder conspiracy hatched

569
00:56:12.000 --> 00:56:17.480
<v Speaker 2>in the German Reich at Vance in ninety forty two,

570
00:56:18.679 --> 00:56:22.559
<v Speaker 2>like why wasn't anybody you know, publicizing that? I mean

571
00:56:22.559 --> 00:56:24.519
<v Speaker 2>that one would think that would be a godsend to

572
00:56:24.559 --> 00:56:31.800
<v Speaker 2>the New Dealers and a perfect way to portray the

573
00:56:31.880 --> 00:56:37.480
<v Speaker 2>Germans as as these horrific villains, and especially became imperative,

574
00:56:38.960 --> 00:56:45.960
<v Speaker 2>you know by ninety forty four, as the US Army

575
00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:49.320
<v Speaker 2>was quite literally near mutiny, you know, which we've talked about.

576
00:56:49.360 --> 00:56:53.039
<v Speaker 2>That was the real catalyst for the execution of poor

577
00:56:53.119 --> 00:56:56.199
<v Speaker 2>Eddie Slavic. You know, it's.

578
00:56:58.159 --> 00:56:58.480
<v Speaker 3>People.

579
00:56:58.679 --> 00:57:03.599
<v Speaker 2>So, you know, the Walter Winschel and the Opposite of

580
00:57:03.599 --> 00:57:13.559
<v Speaker 2>War Information and all these myriad anglophone news agencies, they

581
00:57:13.639 --> 00:57:17.039
<v Speaker 2>just decided not to report on the fact that the

582
00:57:17.119 --> 00:57:20.320
<v Speaker 2>German Reich only existed to exterminate Jewish people, just because

583
00:57:20.320 --> 00:57:23.559
<v Speaker 2>they didn't think it was important, you know, they didn't

584
00:57:23.559 --> 00:57:28.679
<v Speaker 2>think it was a useful way to code propaganda. I

585
00:57:28.679 --> 00:57:32.519
<v Speaker 2>mean that's like a bit tangential, But moving on real quick,

586
00:57:32.559 --> 00:57:39.480
<v Speaker 2>So I realized we're running out of time. I mentioned

587
00:57:40.239 --> 00:57:45.239
<v Speaker 2>a moment ago. Something that's often raised is okay, So

588
00:57:45.280 --> 00:57:50.679
<v Speaker 2>why why was Barbarossa so tactically so tactically successful? And

589
00:57:51.000 --> 00:57:58.079
<v Speaker 2>why was the attrition rate so algorithmically skewed against the

590
00:57:58.119 --> 00:58:05.800
<v Speaker 2>Soviet Union if in fact the Soviet Union was mobilized

591
00:58:05.840 --> 00:58:09.159
<v Speaker 2>for war and planning to attack. But that's exactly why

592
00:58:09.199 --> 00:58:16.000
<v Speaker 2>these things did develop that way. The Soviets were planning

593
00:58:16.039 --> 00:58:23.559
<v Speaker 2>to assault Romania by autumn of forty one, and that's

594
00:58:23.599 --> 00:58:33.559
<v Speaker 2>exactly why, like I said, army groups South encountered comparatively

595
00:58:33.639 --> 00:58:34.719
<v Speaker 2>savage resistance.

596
00:58:35.440 --> 00:58:36.760
<v Speaker 3>And that's also why.

597
00:58:39.199 --> 00:58:42.199
<v Speaker 2>That's also why there was a There was powerful reserve

598
00:58:42.239 --> 00:58:49.360
<v Speaker 2>elements in Ukraine because essentially they were there to rapidly

599
00:58:49.400 --> 00:58:54.360
<v Speaker 2>reinforce the shock element that was going to assault the Balkans.

600
00:58:55.119 --> 00:58:58.800
<v Speaker 2>So there was this awkwardly unbalanced deployment schema of Soviet

601
00:58:58.880 --> 00:59:07.519
<v Speaker 2>field armies where Soviet forces blocking the corridor to the

602
00:59:07.559 --> 00:59:12.360
<v Speaker 2>Moscow Leningrad deployment space, they were exponentially weaker than those

603
00:59:12.400 --> 00:59:16.719
<v Speaker 2>deployed to Ukraine, which doesn't make any sense unless you

604
00:59:16.760 --> 00:59:20.800
<v Speaker 2>account for the fact that they were deployed in an

605
00:59:20.880 --> 00:59:27.440
<v Speaker 2>offensive posture. The share punk of which was you know,

606
00:59:30.440 --> 00:59:38.800
<v Speaker 2>in the south to assault Romania through the Carpathians. Now,

607
00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:42.199
<v Speaker 2>don't get me wrong, the Soviets were sensitive to the

608
00:59:42.280 --> 00:59:57.039
<v Speaker 2>fact that Moscow was being left relatively undefended. But you know,

609
00:59:57.440 --> 01:00:02.719
<v Speaker 2>it doesn't like, it doesn't track any other way other

610
01:00:02.760 --> 01:00:06.199
<v Speaker 2>than accept what I just acknowledged. And it's also you know,

611
01:00:06.280 --> 01:00:12.320
<v Speaker 2>again this idea that's endlessly banned to this day, that

612
01:00:12.320 --> 01:00:15.920
<v Speaker 2>that Stalin was afraid of Hitler, or that the Soviet

613
01:00:15.960 --> 01:00:18.159
<v Speaker 2>Union was afraid of the Vermach That it's like, well,

614
01:00:18.199 --> 01:00:21.800
<v Speaker 2>I mean, okay, that's preposterous anyway, but so Stalin was

615
01:00:21.840 --> 01:00:25.840
<v Speaker 2>so afraid of the ver Manx that he he there

616
01:00:25.920 --> 01:00:34.119
<v Speaker 2>there basically was a token deployment on the path to Moscow.

617
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:37.800
<v Speaker 2>You know, I mean, how how is heply does that work?

618
01:00:40.400 --> 01:00:51.639
<v Speaker 2>Any uh? I mean, any interpretation is uh, it can

619
01:00:51.679 --> 01:00:57.800
<v Speaker 2>only result in a conclusion that the Soviets were poised

620
01:00:57.800 --> 01:01:03.079
<v Speaker 2>for exclusively offensive uppers. I mean, unless you can it's

621
01:01:03.119 --> 01:01:05.280
<v Speaker 2>a tortured kind of logic. I mean, I guess you

622
01:01:05.320 --> 01:01:11.119
<v Speaker 2>could claim that the Soviets wanted to draw the Germans

623
01:01:11.159 --> 01:01:16.000
<v Speaker 2>in and funnel the main line of funnel under to

624
01:01:16.079 --> 01:01:19.119
<v Speaker 2>the main line of resistance at the gates of Moscow

625
01:01:19.239 --> 01:01:23.719
<v Speaker 2>and stop them their tracks. But that Moscow practically felt

626
01:01:24.039 --> 01:01:29.920
<v Speaker 2>you know, that doesn't make any sense. I've read people

627
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:32.400
<v Speaker 2>who try to make some variation of that argument, but

628
01:01:32.440 --> 01:01:35.360
<v Speaker 2>it's it's so preposterous. I don't really think it warrants

629
01:01:35.360 --> 01:01:43.280
<v Speaker 2>to kind of blow by blow rebuttal but that's really,

630
01:01:45.079 --> 01:01:54.079
<v Speaker 2>you know, an example of extent conditions. Speaking of herself

631
01:01:54.559 --> 01:01:58.119
<v Speaker 2>and the resistance that every group center did encounter. To

632
01:01:58.199 --> 01:02:03.159
<v Speaker 2>be clear, they were defensively deployed either there wasn't any

633
01:02:03.280 --> 01:02:11.840
<v Speaker 2>depth to their deployment schema, and they in fact were

634
01:02:11.920 --> 01:02:20.960
<v Speaker 2>forward deployed with a heavily armed shock element in the lead,

635
01:02:22.800 --> 01:02:28.039
<v Speaker 2>you know, which is one reason why our group center, especially,

636
01:02:28.119 --> 01:02:31.880
<v Speaker 2>they didn't counter resistance. They got hit with a lot

637
01:02:31.920 --> 01:02:41.840
<v Speaker 2>of firepower that was immediately exhausted, and then when counterattacking

638
01:02:41.880 --> 01:02:45.840
<v Speaker 2>the Vermont immediately broke Soviet lines because there was again

639
01:02:45.880 --> 01:02:49.719
<v Speaker 2>there wasn't any there wasn't any depth to the deployment.

640
01:02:51.039 --> 01:02:55.880
<v Speaker 2>You know, if you know anything, I'm not any I'm

641
01:02:55.920 --> 01:03:00.360
<v Speaker 2>not at all like a military type person, but I

642
01:03:00.400 --> 01:03:05.719
<v Speaker 2>do know something about the internal logic of modern warfare.

643
01:03:07.159 --> 01:03:11.039
<v Speaker 2>You know, in an abstract deployment since I mean, and

644
01:03:11.079 --> 01:03:14.840
<v Speaker 2>if you know anything about this, just not even really

645
01:03:14.840 --> 01:03:19.039
<v Speaker 2>deep diving into the numerical data points and stuff, but

646
01:03:19.079 --> 01:03:21.519
<v Speaker 2>it's literally looking at the map of the deployment schema,

647
01:03:21.559 --> 01:03:25.239
<v Speaker 2>they should jump right out at you. It's it's almost

648
01:03:25.280 --> 01:03:30.559
<v Speaker 2>like you know those a you know, it's like illusion pictures.

649
01:03:30.599 --> 01:03:33.599
<v Speaker 2>They used to see them a lot, like beer companies.

650
01:03:33.639 --> 01:03:35.840
<v Speaker 2>And it's like you look at some picture and it

651
01:03:35.880 --> 01:03:39.400
<v Speaker 2>looks like it's like a bunch of old pictures, a

652
01:03:39.440 --> 01:03:41.599
<v Speaker 2>Spudge mackenzie or something. But then you see it and

653
01:03:41.639 --> 01:03:44.199
<v Speaker 2>it's like a sexy girl or something. And then once

654
01:03:44.199 --> 01:03:47.719
<v Speaker 2>you see that, like you can't unsee it. What's like that? Okay?

655
01:03:47.800 --> 01:03:51.480
<v Speaker 2>I mean you look at you look at an deployment

656
01:03:51.559 --> 01:04:03.119
<v Speaker 2>map of the Moscow, Leningrad Gorky battlespace on June twenty second,

657
01:04:03.199 --> 01:04:09.079
<v Speaker 2>ninety forty one, and you realize like what it is,

658
01:04:09.559 --> 01:04:11.960
<v Speaker 2>and then and then you can't undersee it, you know.

659
01:04:12.079 --> 01:04:15.920
<v Speaker 2>So the fact anybody makes an argument of the contrary,

660
01:04:15.920 --> 01:04:19.760
<v Speaker 2>I got to assume they're being dishonest or they're just

661
01:04:20.119 --> 01:04:23.920
<v Speaker 2>profoundly ignorant to the subject matter. Yeah, it looks like

662
01:04:23.920 --> 01:04:26.039
<v Speaker 2>we've gone over an hour. I hope that wasn't too

663
01:04:26.079 --> 01:04:27.039
<v Speaker 2>skater shot man.

664
01:04:29.119 --> 01:04:32.039
<v Speaker 1>Let me let me hit you up with one question

665
01:04:32.119 --> 01:04:35.000
<v Speaker 1>before we go, and this is this is a little

666
01:04:35.000 --> 01:04:37.199
<v Speaker 1>bit off topic, but it's a question I wanted to

667
01:04:37.199 --> 01:04:41.039
<v Speaker 1>ask since we were talking about Stalin so much. Yeah,

668
01:04:41.400 --> 01:04:43.760
<v Speaker 1>did Stalin take half of Europe at the end of

669
01:04:43.760 --> 01:04:45.800
<v Speaker 1>the war or was he given half of Europe at

670
01:04:45.840 --> 01:04:46.480
<v Speaker 1>the end of the war?

671
01:04:47.320 --> 01:04:50.760
<v Speaker 3>I mean both, That's what was decided at Yalta.

672
01:04:51.920 --> 01:04:58.239
<v Speaker 2>If if if Stal's going to be precluded from taking Germany,

673
01:04:58.559 --> 01:05:03.679
<v Speaker 2>that meant that I Hower and Montgomery would have had

674
01:05:03.679 --> 01:05:07.920
<v Speaker 2>to assault Berlin. And had they done that, what would

675
01:05:07.960 --> 01:05:19.440
<v Speaker 2>have happened was even accounting for the punitive and purely

676
01:05:19.599 --> 01:05:26.400
<v Speaker 2>a lot purely ideologically motivated and additional surrender demand, vermacht

677
01:05:26.480 --> 01:05:29.360
<v Speaker 2>Off and SS elements would have basically welcomed them in

678
01:05:30.239 --> 01:05:34.360
<v Speaker 2>because that would have prevented the literal rape of and

679
01:05:34.440 --> 01:05:41.880
<v Speaker 2>destruction of the German Reich. And once it was clear

680
01:05:42.000 --> 01:05:49.199
<v Speaker 2>that Anglo American forces intended to take Berlin, Stalwoin immediately

681
01:05:52.159 --> 01:05:56.679
<v Speaker 2>shifted to a footing of hostility cot for the United

682
01:05:56.719 --> 01:06:03.440
<v Speaker 2>States and the UK. And even before that happened, it's

683
01:06:03.480 --> 01:06:11.880
<v Speaker 2>conceivable that these elements that were driving for Berlin on

684
01:06:11.960 --> 01:06:19.119
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet side, like first Ukrainian Shock Army, which I

685
01:06:19.159 --> 01:06:22.480
<v Speaker 2>think was under Rock. I think that I think First

686
01:06:22.599 --> 01:06:27.400
<v Speaker 2>Ukrainian Shock Army was enter Timoshenko. But whoever whatever formation

687
01:06:27.679 --> 01:06:35.639
<v Speaker 2>cone of and Rakasovski respectively were commanding, it's very conceivable

688
01:06:35.800 --> 01:06:42.840
<v Speaker 2>that they would have ordered down the company level commanders

689
01:06:42.880 --> 01:06:46.400
<v Speaker 2>to treat U, the US and the UK as enemies

690
01:06:47.119 --> 01:06:50.519
<v Speaker 2>who were literally trying to race to Berlin, as to

691
01:06:50.599 --> 01:06:54.119
<v Speaker 2>act as a blocking element. And the Soviet view, you know,

692
01:06:54.239 --> 01:07:01.199
<v Speaker 2>for the Germans so America to found itself at war

693
01:07:01.280 --> 01:07:09.039
<v Speaker 2>with the Soviet Union. You know, that's the only alternative.

694
01:07:09.599 --> 01:07:11.599
<v Speaker 2>But I mean, that's what that you like, I said,

695
01:07:11.639 --> 01:07:14.679
<v Speaker 2>the thing was decided at Yelt It's I mean, I

696
01:07:14.760 --> 01:07:25.480
<v Speaker 2>don't you can uh. On the one hand, yeah, it

697
01:07:25.559 --> 01:07:27.920
<v Speaker 2>was the new it was the New Dealers who kept

698
01:07:27.920 --> 01:07:34.079
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet Union in the war. But like von Manstein,

699
01:07:34.119 --> 01:07:39.119
<v Speaker 2>I highly recommend von Manstein's it's marketed as his memoirs,

700
01:07:39.119 --> 01:07:41.800
<v Speaker 2>it's called Loss Victories, but in reality it was just

701
01:07:41.920 --> 01:07:45.960
<v Speaker 2>debriefing by the War Department, which obviously was very interested

702
01:07:46.760 --> 01:07:50.840
<v Speaker 2>in learning as much as they could about fighting the

703
01:07:50.880 --> 01:07:55.639
<v Speaker 2>Soviet Union with combined conventional combined arms with an emphasis

704
01:07:55.679 --> 01:08:03.119
<v Speaker 2>on armored columns, obviously, but Manstein, who really was like

705
01:08:03.119 --> 01:08:07.159
<v Speaker 2>a kind of Prussian martinet and a very prejudiced guy,

706
01:08:08.199 --> 01:08:14.159
<v Speaker 2>he stipulated that the Soviet army was unbelievably tough. They

707
01:08:14.159 --> 01:08:21.560
<v Speaker 2>could absorb catastrophic attrition and not fall apart, and much

708
01:08:21.600 --> 01:08:26.840
<v Speaker 2>as in the Western world, as we might view their

709
01:08:27.000 --> 01:08:31.520
<v Speaker 2>doctrinal orientation on the battlefield as exhibiting a kind of

710
01:08:31.520 --> 01:08:40.159
<v Speaker 2>callous disregard for human life, it was and is highly effective.

711
01:08:41.279 --> 01:08:44.880
<v Speaker 2>And those things are all true. You can't really take

712
01:08:44.920 --> 01:08:49.840
<v Speaker 2>away from the gameness and just the raw toughness of

713
01:08:49.880 --> 01:08:52.840
<v Speaker 2>the Red Army, you know. So I'm not going to

714
01:08:52.880 --> 01:08:56.399
<v Speaker 2>sit here and say that, oh, Shtalin was just handed

715
01:08:56.399 --> 01:09:01.640
<v Speaker 2>a gift by you know, the New Dealer and in

716
01:09:01.800 --> 01:09:07.159
<v Speaker 2>general Eisenhower. You know, because the Soviet Union fought for

717
01:09:07.239 --> 01:09:13.359
<v Speaker 2>every single inch of ground that they won back, and uh,

718
01:09:15.199 --> 01:09:21.359
<v Speaker 2>the the attrition they endured is almost unfathomable. Yet by

719
01:09:21.399 --> 01:09:23.880
<v Speaker 2>the time they reached Berlin, their morale was great and

720
01:09:23.880 --> 01:09:25.239
<v Speaker 2>they were acting like they were at a party.

721
01:09:25.720 --> 01:09:29.199
<v Speaker 3>I'm not being flippant. They were doing utterly horrible, horrible things.

722
01:09:29.600 --> 01:09:32.680
<v Speaker 2>By my point being the enronment that arrived in Berlin

723
01:09:32.800 --> 01:09:35.880
<v Speaker 2>wasn't some broken ragtag for so it was a very game,

724
01:09:38.079 --> 01:09:41.920
<v Speaker 2>very aggressive, very high morale element, which is one of

725
01:09:42.000 --> 01:09:45.840
<v Speaker 2>reasons why they were so dangerous. Like it's realistic and

726
01:09:45.920 --> 01:09:52.319
<v Speaker 2>through Utergang where Troutle young, you know, she's trying to

727
01:09:52.359 --> 01:09:55.279
<v Speaker 2>pass through Soviet lines and then like the kid runs

728
01:09:55.319 --> 01:09:56.279
<v Speaker 2>up and grabs her hand.

729
01:09:56.720 --> 01:09:56.880
<v Speaker 3>You know.

730
01:09:57.000 --> 01:10:01.560
<v Speaker 2>It so which a really poignant scene. But uh there's

731
01:10:01.600 --> 01:10:04.800
<v Speaker 2>the Soviet infantry men and they're like Guzlin vodka and

732
01:10:04.920 --> 01:10:07.239
<v Speaker 2>like dancing like you're at a party. You know, these

733
01:10:07.239 --> 01:10:10.920
<v Speaker 2>guys have just been in action for the you know,

734
01:10:11.039 --> 01:10:13.920
<v Speaker 2>these guys probably were the last they were probably like

735
01:10:13.920 --> 01:10:15.920
<v Speaker 2>the last element drafted. They were probably the guys who

736
01:10:16.000 --> 01:10:20.600
<v Speaker 2>turned eighteen, you know in uh in a in the

737
01:10:21.359 --> 01:10:25.039
<v Speaker 2>in January of nineteen forty five, you know, and then

738
01:10:25.079 --> 01:10:28.239
<v Speaker 2>took you know, like eighty percent casualties. You know, they're

739
01:10:28.319 --> 01:10:30.560
<v Speaker 2>and they're they're like the surviving element and they're they're

740
01:10:30.560 --> 01:10:34.319
<v Speaker 2>acting like you're at a party. You know, they most

741
01:10:34.760 --> 01:10:37.600
<v Speaker 2>most people would have fallen apart, you know, even when

742
01:10:37.640 --> 01:10:40.960
<v Speaker 2>they had the kind of that kind of momentum in

743
01:10:40.960 --> 01:10:44.800
<v Speaker 2>in broad strategic terms, just because it was so it

744
01:10:44.840 --> 01:10:48.119
<v Speaker 2>was so brutal and so catastrophic. So yeah, I'm not

745
01:10:48.159 --> 01:10:50.239
<v Speaker 2>I'm not gonna take anything away from the Ivans in

746
01:10:50.319 --> 01:10:53.399
<v Speaker 2>terms of their toughness and gameness, but it you know,

747
01:10:53.560 --> 01:11:01.359
<v Speaker 2>I a race to Berlin between Montgomery and Eisenhower and

748
01:11:01.359 --> 01:11:07.079
<v Speaker 2>and uh, the Soviets would have meant war. So that's

749
01:11:07.079 --> 01:11:08.199
<v Speaker 2>the best answer I can give.

750
01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:13.399
<v Speaker 1>Awesome, All right, Well, I will encourage people to go

751
01:11:13.399 --> 01:11:16.640
<v Speaker 1>over to Thomas's substack. That's real Thomas seven seven seven

752
01:11:16.680 --> 01:11:20.359
<v Speaker 1>dot substack dot com and you can connect to him

753
01:11:21.359 --> 01:11:26.079
<v Speaker 1>from from there to anywhere that he's at and check

754
01:11:26.119 --> 01:11:30.079
<v Speaker 1>him out on Twitter, and make sure to subscribe to

755
01:11:30.119 --> 01:11:35.880
<v Speaker 1>a substack so you can get the episodes and hear them. So, yeah,

756
01:11:36.199 --> 01:11:38.800
<v Speaker 1>that's at Thomas. This was a This was a great series.

757
01:11:38.840 --> 01:11:40.560
<v Speaker 1>I thought this was a series that needed to get

758
01:11:40.560 --> 01:11:45.720
<v Speaker 1>out there, especially after reading after reading suver Off and

759
01:11:47.119 --> 01:11:50.399
<v Speaker 1>getting a little of the way through Hoffman and having

760
01:11:50.439 --> 01:11:55.159
<v Speaker 1>to finish Hoffman. It's just vital information that people are

761
01:11:56.359 --> 01:12:00.279
<v Speaker 1>you're not going to hear even if you you exit

762
01:12:00.319 --> 01:12:03.880
<v Speaker 1>court history. This is stuff that's hidden and there's a

763
01:12:03.920 --> 01:12:06.720
<v Speaker 1>reason why both of those books. If you want original

764
01:12:06.720 --> 01:12:08.800
<v Speaker 1>copies of both of those books, you're paying to three

765
01:12:08.880 --> 01:12:09.520
<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars.

766
01:12:10.199 --> 01:12:12.680
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, no, I agree on all accounts.

767
01:12:12.680 --> 01:12:16.039
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, thanks thanks for including me man or rather

768
01:12:16.119 --> 01:12:20.439
<v Speaker 2>for inviting me to participate in lieu of somebody else.

769
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:21.680
<v Speaker 2>That's just great.

770
01:12:22.800 --> 01:12:24.840
<v Speaker 3>Really, thank you, Tomas.

771
01:12:24.880 --> 01:12:25.439
<v Speaker 1>Take care now,